Jeffrey A. Wolin

Jeff Wolin began interviewing and making portraits of Vietnam War veterans in 1992, at the same time that he began a similar project with Holocaust survivors. The latter project took precedence because the subjects were dying and there was some urgency. It eventually became a traveling exhibition and book, Written in Memory (Chronicle Books, 1997). In early 2003, Wolin resumed his work on the Vietnam veteran project by re-contacting those he had worked with earlier and building a network that gained him access to veterans beyond the Midwest. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, then spearheading the Veterans History Project, wrote a letter on Wolin’s behalf to Vietnam veterans in Indiana, which ultimately allowed him to expand his network nation-wide. As an official partner of the Veterans History Project, Wolin’s videotaped interviews will be archived at the Library of Congress.

In Wolin’s own words: “From the Iliad onward, war has been a major theme in art and literature. I hope that my photographs and interviews will make a contribution to our understanding of how the trauma of war affects combatants, and civilians caught in literal and philosophical crossfire. Many important issues of war and peace emerge in the stories of these veterans and in the portraits themselves. Many veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some still wear their Vietnam War medals. Some fight for veterans’ medical issues or make art or write books about their experiences. Others have found ways to put their experiences behind them, often with significant struggle, and to successfully return to civilian life. All were deeply and permanently affected by the war, but the majority are proud of their service.”

Sample Narratives:
Benito R. Garcia, Jr., U.S. Army Specialist E-2 Download file
James May, U.S. Army Specialist E-5 Download file

MoCP Exhibition Page

Biography

Jeffrey A. Wolin was born in New York City in 1951. He earned a BA degree from Kenyon College in 1972 and an MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1977. Wolin is the recipient of a Ford Foundation Grant (1981), two NEA Visual Artist Fellowships (1988 and 1992), a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1991), a US/France Fellowship for residency in Paris (1994), and an ArtsLink Fellowship for travel to the Czech Republic (1994). His work includes the series Autobiography (1985-1992), Pigeon Hill (1987-1991), Written in Memory: Portraits of the Holocaust (1992-1996), and Life at the Millennium: Family Photographs (1996-present). He has participated in several one-person and group exhibitions worldwide. His work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Ecole Nationale de la Photographie, Arles, France; Imperial War Museum, London; and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, among others. He is a professor of photography and the director of the School of Fine Arts at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Exhibition Specifications:

Exhibition is 50 pieces made up of 100 photographs and 26 narratives in wood frames and plexiglass, as well as booklets containing an addition 24 narratives. Sizes vary:

Photographs:
6 at 35 × 42”
20 at 28 × 32”
24 at 22 × 26”
50 at 8 × 10”

Narratives:
26 at 18 × 12.5”

The exhibition requires a minimum of 300 linear feet to hang, but is adaptable to space. It is accompanied by a 30 minute video in which Mr. Wolin interviews the veterans.

Available Time Slots:

Late Spring/Summer, 2006 – Summer, 2008

Organized and Circulated by

The Museum of Contemporary Photography
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan
Chicago, IL 60605

Contact

Rod Slemmons
Director
312-344-7106
RSlemmons@colum.edu

Press

Indiana University Radio interview with Jeffrey A. Wolin

Installation images

View this exhibition installed at the Museum of Art at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, June 15 – Sept. 2, 2007

Exhibition Images

Click on the below image to view other images in this exhibition.

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